Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nuggets’ Malone, Porter Address Trade Rumors

December 24th, 2024 at 7:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets and forward Michael Porter Jr. have been at the center of one of the biggest trade rumors so far this season, with reports indicating that Denver is exploring the possibility of making a deal for Bulls guard Zach LaVine. Porter’s cap hit of nearly $36MM would be necessary for matching purposes in a trade for LaVine or any other trade target earning a significant salary.

Addressing that rumor – along with one from Marc Stein and Jake Fischer suggesting the Nuggets are considering the idea of trading Porter – head coach Michael Malone said prior to Monday’s game vs. Phoenix that there’s more smoke than fire on the rumor mill, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post.

“A lot of it is noise. I mean, I don’t know where it comes from,” Malone said. “You see different things that are out there, and you never want that stuff getting out there. But I’ve talked to (general manager) Calvin (Booth), and Calvin’s had a good pulse on that stuff. And whenever that stuff is happening, he’s in touch with the guys and their agents to let them know what is real and what is not real. And as of right now as we are 25 games into the season, there’s nothing to that.”

Malone added that he wants his players focusing on what they can control rather than “worrying about the wrong thing.” He also lauded the Nuggets’ front office for the job it has done over the years communicating with the players and making sure they’re not caught off guard during trade season.

Speaking to reporters after Monday’s game, Porter – who scored 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting in a 27-point blowout win over the Suns – agreed that the front office has been good about touching base with him as trade rumors have swirled.

“They’ve reached out to me and said it’s all noise,” Porter said (Twitter video link via DNVR Sports). “There’s nothing serious going on, and if there was, they’d let me know. They’ve said they love how I’m playing and to keep being aggressive, and they have no desire to move me right now.

“But I also know that they wouldn’t tell me if they wanted to move me,” Porter added with a laugh. “But they have reached out, yeah.”

Porter is averaging a career-high 18.3 points per game through his first 27 games this season. He’s also contributing 6.9 rebounds and a career-best 2.8 assists per night, with impressive shooting percentages of 51.8% from the field and 38.8% on three-pointers.

However, the 26-year-old has never been considered a defensive asset, and his maximum-salary contract – which includes two more years and $79MM+ in guaranteed money beyond this season – makes him Denver’s most logical big-money trade chip.

Asked if being the subject of trade rumors is stressful, Porter downplayed his concern, noting that he understands it’s part of the business and pointing out that he’s been “blessed” not only to spend his entire career so far with one team, but to win a championship with that club.

“When stuff like this comes up, I don’t think I take it personally,” the veteran forward said, per Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette. “You have those moments where you’re like, ‘Man, I want to be here,’ or whatever the thoughts (are) that go through your head.

“But I think for me, I’ve overcome so much in my life. I’ve gone through so much with my family. I’ve gone through so much personally that little stuff like a trade rumor, I kind of leave that stuff up to God. I kind of have zero stress about it, because I know wherever I end up, it will be meant to be. I love where I’m at, and I love playing with these dudes. I think we have a chance to get rolling and do something special, but to answer your question, it’s not stressful for me.”

T.J. Warren, Jahlil Okafor Headline NBAGL All-Showcase Team

December 23rd, 2024 at 1:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA G League has announced (via Twitter) a five-man All-Showcase Team following its 2024 Winter Showcase in Orlando, which wrapped up in Sunday. The standout players recognized by the NBAGL are as follows:

Josh Christopher (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
Leonard Miller (Iowa Wolves)
Jahlil Okafor (Indiana Mad Ants)
T.J. Warren (Westchester Knicks)
Jahmir Young (Grand Rapids Gold)

The event, which was the culmination of the G League’s fall Tip-Off Tournament, included an eight-team, single-elimination bracket made up of the top finishers in the Tip-Off Tournament. Those eight clubs were vying for the Showcase Cup, with the league’s other 22 teams each playing a pair of non-tournaments from Thursday to Sunday.

Warren’s Knicks defeated Christopher’s Skyforce in the Showcase Cup final, with Warren averaging 22.7 points per game on 54.8% shooting in Westchester’s three victories. The veteran forward had 24 points and four assists in Sunday’s championship game.

Four of the five players named to the All-Showcase Team were in the Showcase Cup bracket. The only exception was Okafor, who averaged 22.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game on 66.7% shooting in a pair of non-tournament victories for the Pacers‘ affiliate.

While Miller is on a standard NBA contract with the Timberwolves and Christopher is on a two-way deal with the Heat, Warren, Okafor, and Young aren’t currently controlled by NBA teams and could be freely signed by one at any time. Their performances over the weekend in front of scouts and executives should help strengthen their cases for NBA promotions, especially once the 10-day contract window opens in January.

Warren and Okafor are NBA veterans who each have several years of experience in the league, whereas Young is an undrafted rookie who was in camp with the Nuggets in the fall. The former Maryland standout had 22 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds in Grand Rapids’ win over the OKC Blue on Thursday, then put up 28 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and three steals in a losing effort to Westchester on Saturday.

Stein’s Latest: Butler, Beal, Nnaji, Kuzma, Hawkins

December 23rd, 2024 at 8:08am CST by Arthur Hill

The Suns‘ interest in acquiring Jimmy Butler is “absolutely genuine,” but they may not have enough assets to entice the Heat, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack column (subscription required).

In theory, Bradley Beal‘s $50MM contract is a good salary match f0r Butler’s $48.8MM deal, and it’s being portrayed in some circles that Beal’s no-trade clause is the major impediment. That’s not really accurate, according to Stein, who states that there’s little evidence that the Heat have interest in adding the 31-year-old guard.

Beal has two more seasons left on his contract at $53.7MM and $57.1MM, which would greatly impact Miami’s future roster flexibility. He has also missed 36% of the Suns’ games since he joined the team at the start of last season. His scoring has dropped significantly after leaving Washington as he’s no longer being asked to carry the offense, although his shooting percentages are still strong at .504/.375/.795.

Stein notes that Phoenix doesn’t have many options to sweeten the deal for Miami. As a second-apron team, the Suns can’t aggregate contracts in a trade and they’ve already parted with most of their draft assets. They don’t have control over their first-round picks for the next six years, leaving just their 2031 first-rounder and three second-rounders to offer.

Stein shares more inside information from around the league:

Stein confirms a report from KC Johnson of The Chicago Sports Network that Zeke Nnaji‘s contract could stand in the way of a potential Nuggets-Bulls trade. One version of a deal would send Nnaji and Michael Porter Jr. to Chicago in exchange for Zach LaVine and Torrey Craig, but the Bulls are reluctant to make a four-year commitment to Nnaji, who has a $32MM contract that runs through 2027/28. Stein reiterates that Denver is considering whether it makes more sense to trade Porter for two rotational pieces, rather than trying to land LaVine.
League executives believe the Wizards are “eager” to move veteran forward Kyle Kuzma before the trade deadline, according to Stein. Washington had a deal in place with Dallas involving Kuzma last winter, but he chose to stay with the Wizards when given the option. He’s not expected to be consulted this time, Stein adds, as Washington’s front office seeks to tear down a roster that has compiled a league-worst 4-22 record. Stein points out that Kuzma has $3MM in unlikely bonuses that could complicate a deal (since they count against the aprons), but his contract is otherwise team-friendly with a declining salary that will reach $19.4MM in 2026/27. Stein adds that the idea that the Mavericks might pursue Kuzma again was “strongly dismissed,” but the Kings could be an option. He describes Sacramento’s recent interest in Kuzma as “up-and-down.”
Stein considers Jordan Hawkins to be among the players who the Pelicans are unlikely to trade before the deadline. The 22-year-old guard is averaging 13.1 PPG in his second NBA season and has taken on a larger role in New Orleans’ offense. Stein previously listed Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy and rookie center Yves Missi as keepers for the Pelicans.

Community Shootaround: 2024/25 NBA MVP Race

December 22nd, 2024 at 12:06pm CST by Luke Adams

As we relayed on Friday, three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic led the way in the first MVP straw poll conducted by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps for the 2024/25 season. However, while Jokic earned 57 first-place votes from the 100 media members polled by Bontemps, it’s clearly a three-player race at this point.

Jokic totaled 827 total points in the voting, with Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at 678 points and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo at 643. Gilgeous-Alexander received 24 first-place votes, while Antetokounmpo got 19 — no other player earned a single first-place vote, and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was the only other player to even claim a second-place vote (he got three).

Plenty could change between now and the end of the regular season, and injury luck is always a factor, but it seems highly likely at this point that one of Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander, or Antetokounmpo will be named this season’s Most Valuable Player. Here are their cases so far:

Nikola Jokic:

As usual, the Nuggets center has been an advanced-stats star. He leads the NBA in player efficiency rating (31.9), win shares per 48 minutes (.287), box plus/minus (12.8), and value over replacement player (3.0).

Of course, Jokic’s traditional stats look awfully impressive too. His 31.0 points per game would be a career best, as would his league-leading 50.0% mark on three-point attempts. He’s nearly averaging a triple-double, with 13.0 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game.

The main knock against Jokic at this point is that his Nuggets are fighting to stay out of play-in territory — they’re currently tied for sixth in the Western Conference at 14-11. But it’s hard to blame the big man for that modest record. Denver has a +9.7 net rating in his 819 minutes on the court, while their net rating in the 391 minutes he hasn’t played is a brutal -14.3.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:

Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30.3 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game with a 50.8% field goal percentage, a very strong mark for a guard. He’s also the only player in the NBA who is averaging at least two steals and one block per contest.

The fact that MVPs historically come from teams at or near the top of the standings works in SGA’s favor — his Thunder are 22-5, which is the second-best record in the league and the top mark in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City has a three-game lead in the conference standings on the No. 2 Rockets.

While his supporting cast is certainly stronger than Jokic’s, Gilgeous-Alexander has obviously had a huge hand in OKC’s success. The team has a +15.5 net rating in his 935 minutes and a +1.5 mark in 361 minutes without him on the floor.

The Thunder star also ranks first in the NBA in defensive win shares (2.0) and total win shares (5.4), while placing just behind Jokic in WS/48, BPM, and VORP. His only real weakness is his subpar three-point rate of 33.5% on 6.3 attempts per night.

Giannis Antetokounmpo:

No NBA player has averaged more points per game this season than Antetokounmpo (32.7), who is also among the league leaders in rebounds per game (11.6). The Bucks forward also fills the box score with 6.0 assists and 1.5 blocks per night, along with a career-best field goal percentage of 61.3%.

Giannis is right there with Jokic in terms of PER (31.8) and ranks third behind Jokic and SGA in BPM (9.1) and VORP (2.4). He earns extra points for pulling the Bucks out of an early-season hole, but as a result of that slow start, the team is still just 15-12, fifth in the Eastern Conference. That won’t help his case, so the Bucks will have to keep winning.

Antetokounmpo’s on/off-court numbers are also surprisingly unflattering compared to his top two MVP competitors. Milwaukee’s net rating is essentially the same with him on the court (+1.4) as it is when he’s not playing (+1.3).

We want to know what you think. Which of these three players would you be your MVP pick right now? Which one do you expect to lead the MVP race as the season progresses? Outside of this trio, which player do you think has the best chance to make a run at this season’s MVP award?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Central Notes: Bulls, Nnaji, Strus, Wade, Middleton

December 22nd, 2024 at 8:06am CST by Luke Adams

Although the Bulls have reportedly talked to the Nuggets about a possible swap centered around Zach LaVine and Michael Porter Jr., they have shown no interest in taking Zeke Nnaji‘s contract back in a deal with Denver, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link).

Porter is making $35.9MM this season and LaVine’s cap hit is about $43MM. The Nuggets wouldn’t be permitted to take back more salary than they send out in any trade, so adding Nnaji ($8.9MM) would make perfect sense for Denver. However, the forward/center, who is in the first season of a four-year contract and isn’t playing consistent rotation minutes, has negative trade value.

The Bulls’ position on Nnaji doesn’t necessarily mean the two sides can’t get a deal done. The Nuggets could try to offer additional sweeteners to convince Chicago to take him or find a third team willing to absorb Nnaji’s contract along with some sort of draft compensation. The two teams could also make a deal without including Nnaji — it would mean attaching Dario Saric and one more low-salary player (anyone except for Jalen Pickett or Hunter Tyson) to Porter in order to exceed LaVine’s incoming cap hit.

Here’s more from around the Central:

It was a successful season debut on Friday for Cavaliers wing Max Strus, who made a trio of three-pointers and was a +20 in 19 minutes of action in a blowout win over Milwaukee, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link). Strus, who was sidelined for the first 27 games of the season while recovering from an ankle injury, was on a minutes limit on Friday and then sat out on Saturday during the second game of a back-to-back set for injury management purposes, notes Fedor (Twitter link).
With Isaac Okoro out and Strus just returning, Dean Wade started at small forward for the Cavaliers on both Friday and Saturday and was a +34 in 46 total minutes, registering 21 total points on 7-of-9 shooting in a pair of resounding victories. As Fedor writes in another Cleveland.com story, Wade’s performance is a reminder that the Cavs will have 11 players worthy of rotation minutes once everyone is healthy. Head coach Kenny Atkinson would ideally like to find playing time for all of them, sources tell Fedor. “Everyone can easily (say), ‘I deserve my minutes. We’re the best record in the league. Why shouldn’t I keep playing my minutes?'” Atkinson said. “But with Max back, we’re going to have those conversations individually and as a team.”
After missing the first 21 games of the season while recovering from offseason surgeries on both ankles, Bucks forward Khris Middleton is still rounding into form. He took a big step forward on Saturday in a win over Washington, playing in his first back-to-back and setting personal season highs with 18 points, eight assists, six rebounds, four three-pointers, and 24 minutes played. “Still got a little bit to go, but tonight definitely felt like the best night I’ve had thus far,” Middleton said after the game (Twitter link via Eric Nehm of The Athletic). “Always great to get a couple threes going, mid-range going.”

Trade Rumors: MPJ, LaVine, Butler, Suns, Nets

December 20th, 2024 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets are open to the idea of making a significant trade prior to the February 6 trade deadline, but they’re hoping they’ll see enough from their current group in the coming weeks to feel confident about not having to make a major in-season deal, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post, who takes a closer look at Denver’s trade candidates and potential paths.

Meanwhile, following up on the rumor linking Zach LaVine to Denver and Michael Porter Jr. to the Bulls, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) confirm the Nuggets are indeed considering whether to trade Porter, whose $35.9MM cap hit would be necessary to complete a trade for a player earning a substantial salary.

According to Stein and Fischer, the Nuggets have “always been somewhat unsure” about Porter’s value on the trade market, due in part to his injury history, and are wary about making the team smaller by swapping him out for a guard like LaVine.

Sources tell The Stein Line that some people in the Nuggets’ front office believe that if the team needs to make a moving involving Porter, trading him for two starting-caliber players instead of a single star would be the best course of action. Fischer and Stein point to the Hawks‘ duo of De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic and the Nets‘ duo of Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith as examples.

I may be unsure about Porter’s trade value myself, but given two years and $79MM left on his contract after this season, I have to think that Atlanta and Brooklyn would require some serious sweeteners to seriously consider those trade ideas. That’s an issue for the Nuggets, who aren’t exactly stocked with draft assets — they’ve traded away three future first-round picks and included protections on all of them, complicating their ability to offer additional first-rounders or swaps in subsequent trades. That’s why targeting a distressed asset like LaVine makes sense in the first place.

Here are a few more trade-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:

The Suns are Jimmy Butler‘s preferred landing spot in the event of a trade, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter links). However, Gambadoro says Phoenix plans to wait until at least mid-January before making any decisions on trades, which includes anything involving Butler. Although Gambadoro believes the Suns like Butler, it’s unclear if they’d have the pieces to acquire him, given that Bradley Beal (who holds a no-trade clause) would have to be included in any deal.
Net Income of NetsDaily rounds up a few recent trade rumors involving the Nets and provides his own analysis on each of them. According to NetsDaily, Brooklyn is believed to be seeking at least one first-round pick and potentially “a prospect or two” for Cameron Johnson and is very reluctant to take on multiyear money in trades unless the accompanying return is “rich.”
Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) has published his pre-deadline trade primer for the 2024/25 season, running through all 30 NBA teams and taking a closer look at the big questions they have to answer, their tradable players and draft picks, and various restrictions they’re facing.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines 10 potential trade candidates, including a pair of Trail Blazers centers (Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams), and considers which landing spots are most realistic for them.

And-Ones: MVP Race, Redick, Birch, Obst

December 20th, 2024 at 11:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Nikola Jokic has a commanding lead in ESPN’s first straw poll of the season on the MVP race, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The Nuggets center captured 57 first-place votes among the 100 ballots, giving him 827 total points.

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came in second with 24 first-place votes and 678 points, followed by Bucks big man Giannis Antetokounmpo, who topped 19 ballots and has 643 points. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (267 points) and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (123) round out the top five.

A win by Jokic would give him four MVP trophies in five years and would put him in very select company, Bontemps notes. Only LeBron James and Bill Russell have collected the award four times in five seasons, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain are the other players to be named MVP at least four times.

Bontemps adds that Antetokoumpo had a significant surge in the poll after his dominant performance in the NBA Cup final. Twenty-nine voters changed their ballots after Tuesday’s game, giving him more than twice as many first-place votes and moving him much closer to Gilgeous-Alexander.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

J.J. Redick, who was a rising media star before being hired to coach the Lakers, weighed in on the NBA’s declining television ratings after Thursday’s game, according to Sam Amick and Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Redick doesn’t believe the league is being presented well by its national TV outlets. “We don’t have anybody that’s willing to step up to the fact that this is an awesome game and we should talk about it and celebrate it in a positive way,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we don’t critique it. We should critique it, but we should celebrate it. Nobody’s doing that, and the people that are have a small niche following on Twitter. And frankly, I would argue as well, that everyone in our ecosystem pays too much attention to what is said on Twitter. And part of this whole ratings discussion is because people on Twitter are talking about it.”
Khem Birch will remain with Fenerbahce for the rest of the season, relays Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. In September, Birch signed a one-year contract with an exit clause that would have allowed the Turkish team to terminate the deal in January. Urbonas states that other EuroLeague teams had interest if the 32-year-old center had become a free agent again.
German sharpshooter Andreas Obst spoke about a potential three-point shootout with Stephen Curry and his interest in an NBA future in a BasketNews Film Session Episode. Obst says he heard that NBA executives were talking about him after he starred in the 2023 World Cup, but he never got a formal offer. “At some point, yeah, I could see myself in the NBA,” he said. “I can fill a role as a shooter. I know how to use my gravity to space the floor, spot up, and play off the ball. That’s something I think any NBA team could use.”

Central Notes: Bucks, LaVine, Reed, LeVert

December 18th, 2024 at 10:16pm CST by Rory Maher

Perhaps wary of the fate of the Lakers and Pacers, who both struggled in the immediate aftermath of the finale of last season’s inaugural in-season tournament, the Bucks‘ post-game celebration after winning Tuesday’s NBA Cup final was decidedly muted, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic.

The NBA had set up a champagne celebration room for the winner of Tuesday’s game, but it went untouched following Milwaukee’s victory (Twitter link via Ben Golliver of The Washington Post).

“The NBA puts a big tournament in front of you, and you go win that motherf—-er. It’s as simple as that,” forward/center Bobby Portis said as part of a larger quote. “They put something in front of you. You set a goal. You chop wood every day. Carry water. And eventually, you get here and you get a medal around your neck. … And then you get back to work on Thursday, which is what we signed up for. It’s part of the gig.”

Here’s more from the Central:

Citing a source, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times says there’s “light momentum” on the possibility of the Nuggets pursuing a trade for Bulls star Zach LaVine. According to Cowley, Chicago’s front office remains steadfast in its desire to avoid adding draft capital to move off LaVine’s maximum-salary contract, though the team is open to potential pick swaps.
Paul Reed‘s new one-year deal with the Pistons is fully guaranteed, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype confirms (via Twitter). Reed, who was waived and then re-signed for financial flexibility, will receive the prorated portion of the veteran’s minimum.
He hasn’t received much, if any, national recognition, but Caris LeVert is playing arguably the best — and most efficient — basketball of his career for the Cavaliers and is making a strong case for Sixth Man of the Year consideration. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link) has the story and quotes on LeVert, who will be an unrestricted free agent in 2025.

Warriors Remain Atop 2024 NBA Franchise Valuations

December 18th, 2024 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors remain the NBA’s most valuable team, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico, who unveiled the website’s updated NBA franchise valuations for 2024 on Wednesday.

Badenhausen projects the Warriors’ value at $9.14 billion, making them one of three teams to surpass the $8 billion mark this year. The Knicks have a projected worth of $8.3 billion, while the Lakers come in at $8.07 billion, per Sportico. Only the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys – at $10.3 billion – have a higher valuation than Golden State among North American sports teams, says Badenhausen.

While Sportico’s figures suggest the Warriors, Knicks, and Lakers are worth significantly more than the fourth-place team (the Nets at $5.7 billion), the average value of an NBA franchise is up to $4.6 billion, with no team worth less than $3 billion.

That average has increased by 15% since Sportico released its 2023 valuations last December and has nearly doubled since the site published its first NBA franchise valuations four years ago, when the average was $2.37 billion.

The NBA’s new $77 billion media rights deal and a 15% increase in team sponsorship are among the factors contributing to the rising valuations of the league’s franchises, according to Badenhausen, who notes that a post-COVID boom in concerts and other major events has been good news for team owners who also control their arenas.

NBA team owners operated 10 of the world’s 20 highest-grossing concert venues in 2024, with the Nets’ Barclays Center coming in at No. 1, says Badenhausen. The Nets’ valuation is up 43% this year, per Sportico, easily the largest year-over-year increase among the 30 NBA franchises.

When Forbes put out its NBA franchise valuations in October, it pegged the average value of a team at $4.4 billion. In the past, we’ve used Forbes as our primary source for NBA franchise valuations, but with Badenhausen making the move from Forbes to Sportico in recent years and the outlet establishing itself as a go-to resource for sports business news, we begun highlighting Sportico’s projections as of 2023.

Of course, it’s worth noting that figures from Sportico, Forbes, or any other media outlet are just estimates and often don’t quite match up with the sale prices for franchises that change hands. But these projections are usually in the right ballpark and remain useful for getting a sense of the league’s most and least valuable teams.

Here’s Sportico’s full list of NBA franchise valuations for 2024:

Golden State Warriors: $9.14 billion
New York Knicks: $8.3 billion
Los Angeles Lakers: $8.07 billion
Brooklyn Nets: $5.7 billion
Los Angeles Clippers: $5.68 billion
Boston Celtics: $5.66 billion
Chicago Bulls: $5.56 billion
Miami Heat: $5 billion
Houston Rockets: $4.77 billion
Toronto Raptors: $4.66 billion
Philadelphia 76ers: $4.57 billion
Dallas Mavericks: $4.46 billion
Phoenix Suns: $4.32 billion
Sacramento Kings: $4.11 billion
Atlanta Hawks: $4.07 billion
Denver Nuggets: $4.06 billion
Washington Wizards: $3.98 billion
Cleveland Cavaliers: $3.95 billion
Milwaukee Bucks: $3.91 billion
San Antonio Spurs: $3.79 billion
Indiana Pacers: $3.74 billion
Utah Jazz: $3.67 billion
Portland Trail Blazers: $3.6 billion
Oklahoma City Thunder: $3.55 billion
Orlando Magic: $3.46 billion
Detroit Pistons: $3.45 billion
Charlotte Hornets: $3.39 billion
Minnesota Timberwolves: $3.29 billion
New Orleans Pelicans: $3.09 billion
Memphis Grizzlies: $3.06 billion

As Badenhausen notes, Sportico’s projections are based on a control sale price, rather than limited stake purchases. No NBA franchise saw its majority control change hands in 2024, but that could change in 2025, with control of the Celtics up for sale.

According to Badenhausen, team executives and investors have predicted a sale price ranging from $4.5 billion to $6.5 billion for the Celtics. The final valuation will be determined by a number of factors, including how many bidders are on the mix, what percentage of the team they can buy, and whether current governor Wyc Grousbeck insists on remaining in that role until 2028, which he has indicated is his goal.

Northwest Notes: Grant, Kessler, Collins, Williams, Strawther, Braun

December 17th, 2024 at 10:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Trail Blazers figure to be one of the more active teams in the trade market and Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report lists a handful of players who could be moved if the right offer comes along. That group includes Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton, Anfernee Simons, Matisse Thybulle and Robert Williams.

Grant may be at the top of that list, according to Highkin — there’s a market for the productive veteran forward and there will never be a better time for the Blazers to move him. Rival teams are indicating that two first-rounders is more than they’re willing to give up for Grant, but that could change by the deadline. Grant had a 32-point game against San Antonio on Friday.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Walker Kessler and John Collins have been bright spots in an otherwise disappointing start to the season for the Jazz, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes. However, lottery pick Cody Williams‘ struggles during his rookie year raise some concerns. Williams got rotation minutes early in the season but has spent the last few weeks working on his game in the G League.
The Nuggets would like Julian Strawther to fire away, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post writes. Coach Michael Malone wants to see Strawther put up more three-point shots. “It gives us a boost. It gives us a guy off the bench that you can play through and run plays for,” Malone said. “His catch-and-shoot ability, the three-point line. … He’s taking four a game at a really healthy clip. Let’s get that number up to six, six-and-a-half threes per game.” Strawther, who has scored in double figures four straight games, has made 39% of his threes on 3.4 attempts per game.
Nuggets guard Christian Braun missed his first game since the 2023 Western Conference Finals, Durando tweets. Braun sat out Monday’s game against the Kings due to a lower back strain. Braun is averaging 15.0 points a game in his first season as a full-time starter.